THE The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 21 October 1881, Page 2

THE The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1881.

Mr Archilbald Forbes has a grievance against tbe Secretary of State for India. In one of the expedition- of the Afghan campaign, in tbe winter of 1879, be bad tbe good fortune tq perform a service wbieh haa acknowledged by Brigadier-General Tytler in co*nma**d in a despatch publjshed in tbe London Gazette of Not. 7, 1870, ac follows :— ■' BrigadierGenera) fytler also desires to notice his indebtedness to Mr A. Forbes*, special poireepooj_e**r, who eceimpftnj-d the rolumn throughout the day, and being oj* the spot whenjtwo of tbe men were wounded, bandaged tber woundf and looj-od atter them till the arrival of the medical officer/ It seems that t|»e Brigadier-General j-mtyted to nqtice tbat tbe action was performed under fire, but in a letter to Mr Forbes, the BridadierGeneral admits as, much: Then the an* nouncement was made of the intention to issue an Afghan medal, Mr Forbes accordingly sent in his claim. Tbe Crimean medal bad beeu bestowed ou William Ronald Bus-ell wby should not tbe Afghan war medal decora}© ity;' -tali-Tart pecior* of Archibald Forbes. * The Secretary of State for India has, however, ' rejected my claims.' He has done so, not on any ques tion as to the abstract eligibility, turning on nonmilitary capacity, which, therefore, he would seem tacitly to acquiesce in, but because he ie *p,f opinion tbat the service on the' performance of whioh that olaim is based w«« not of such a character at would entitle you to the decoration. Mr Forbes adds:— 'l an not good at conundrums - and am lost in bewildered speculation, if a successful effort under fire to save a wounded soldier from bjee^ing to death ie not •pf a character to entitle ' him who makes it to a war m? 4*J that bas been given to men who bare never seen, an enemy , what description of eervijcje the Secretary of State for India might conaider as adequate to earn a title to so commonplace a recognition,' $be will of the late Mr Frank Buoklaad has been proved nnder £10,000. The testator bequeaths his mu^um °-" economic fish culture to the director and fsstttanb. director of the South Kensington Museum, to form par| ofthe Natural History Museum. On the death pf his fife, £5,000 is to be placed in tbe name of three trustees at a,n endowment fund for a Professorship of economic fish culture, to be called tbe Buckland ?rofssj*orship, under suoh regulations as may be appro-rod of by the Vice. President of tb,e Committee of Council on Education Bnd tbe director, and -^tt.ptajnt* director of South Kensington Museum. A number of somewhat extraordinary marriages are *on the carpet ' in New Caledo-cti-}. The correspondent of a Sydney paper writes tbat several husbands and wives wbo hare been suoh for years according to English law, bi*t who, having contracted .. marriages in Australia frith English wproen, without tb,eir papa'f consent no matter what age they were, find, that to legitirnatiae their children according to the French law they must go through its i.qujren*,ents. In soreral instances, some of them are heads of families for years past/ A correspondent to tbe London Times suggests that tbe perm^iipn, to **se ppstage stamps as receipt stamps will open the do.br tb a petty but systematic fraud, by whioh the revenue may suffer very considerably. He points out tha,t if would not require much ingenuity to convert imperfectly defaced postage stampi tafcep from envelopes into passable receipt stamps. Every day aniong the letters of any large firm, a certain number of the stamps may be found which have been defaced co slightly tbat if tbe same stamps are used afterwards for receipts tho defacing marks would be concealed under the writing which myst be put en. a receipt stamp. I An elephant was recently in a jewellery •hop at $fartford, U.S. It was a golden elephant, whose bead and trunk were in contipjjal motion. Tbe eyes of this elephant were diamonds, each valued at £600. Its sars were decorated with solitaires, and its feet were fettered with diamonds set in spangles, and over i\s back was a -velvet cloth juet as is usually worn by elephants. This was bordered by a circle of diamonds, each of two carats, Hnd in the centre was a cresent (mron and stars) of the purest gems, while on tbe forehead was an immense single stone worth £1000. Probablj £700) wotild buy this interesting animal. The Bailer Miner says :— The forthcoming •lections for tbe Mayoralty, County Council, and General Assembly, afford plenty oi food for gossip. Mr Jno. Munro has already announced himaelf a candidate for tbo big stake, aud, it is expected will be a runner in each cTeut. Judging from present appearanoes. fat -rill -1.9.1 with strong oppoiitiou at every

j.. — -»..i i. i****ii'!r!??r!r!rzr!rTT M TrT M 7r^nw stage, and it is whispered his calibre will be sorely tested even in smaller p-ren^s,. JJu,t, we sltould say. he is hardly likely to damage his chance for tbe general election by risking a possible defeat in the Cpyntv diction, especially by his protege Cr Brown. Mr J. $. George, who bas a -take in the district as a shareholder and director pf £he J£or?*-*ty Coal Co.. is spoken of as likely to be asked to stand. It is said by those best acquainted with tbe gentleman, who, with the exception pf a few flying visits, is a stranger tq the place, that he would make agood representative, and would receded greater fupport than the only candidate at present in tho field. Tbe Old Member, the best man that ever fat iot the Buller, indeed the only repynfientative that has ever obtained a lion's share for this district, Mr Eugene O'Conor, nicknamed in the lobbw-Ktfc? Buller Lion, is generally sopposed to be once mora a* candidate for hie old seat, but so far as we are able to divine jthe intentions of that gentleman, we are inclined to think it will at least to£e some pressing to induce him to pass through the throes of an election, without substantia.* assurance is given bim that he will be rewarded by success. These three gentlemen represent tbe total ofthe probable candidates, to all of whom alike a fair field will, we doubt not, be accorded by jthe Buller electors, who may be depended pn to return the best man,